COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES
COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES: VIEW FROM NEW SOUTH WALES
Liesl Tesch, AM, MP is a seven time
Paralympian recently elected to the New South Wales Parliament for the seat of Gosford. Liesl has recently been inducted into both the Australia Sailing and the Basketball Halls of Fame for her ongoing commitment to excellence and social inclusion within both sports. She is the Co-Founder of Sport Matters, an international aid and development organisation that uses sport as a toll for social change, and uses a wheelchair as a result of a bicycle accident when she was 19. It’s time for more Parliamentarians with Disabilities! We are a small minority in our Parliaments across the world, yet people with disabilities represent 15% of the world’s population. Parliamentarians with disabilities representing 13 nationals gathered at the inaugural Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities conference in Halifax, Canada earlier this year, committed to increasing the number of people with disabilities
represented in Parliaments across the Commonwealth. Composed of self-identified people with disabilities (PWD) who are current provincial, state or federally elected representatives in the Commonwealth, the group identified the need to establish a new section within the CPA to further increase the representation of PWD within Commonwealth Parliaments. The outcome proposal was sent to the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh to create a ‘Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities’ (CPwD) network to achieve the goal. The CPA Executive Committee agreed to three recommendations, with the cost of the establishment of the recommended network for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with a disability to be the subject of a report back to the next Executive Committee meeting in March 2018. We understand that an official CPwD network will foster relationships between Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities, allowing discussion and the development of strategies to act on issues relating to PWD internationally. The inaugural meeting established a network of Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities, identifying the need to empower and promoting economic and social inclusion for all, especially people with disabilities, at all levels of government. At the two-day workshop generously hosted by the Parliament of Nova Scotia, Canada, Parliamentarians with Disabilities identified many commonalities and objectives to be shared across our diverse regions of the Commonwealth to encourage our Parliaments to be more inclusive of PWD. We discussed a number of
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factors that Parliaments need to add to encourage PWD to participate in our democracies. We shared an inherent belief that we need to work to change the perceptions of our parties, identify barriers and work to create opportunities to allow more people with disabilities to be nominated to represent political parties across the Commonwealth. A CPwD network aims to develop outreach programme materials encouraging PWD to seek elected office. Perhaps we all need to consider the Scottish model, whereby financial assistance is provided to support candidates with disabilities - to fund translators, drivers, and assistance with pamphlet delivery - during the course of their campaigns. Or adopt the model of the UK Parliament’s House of Commons, where an equality and access fund is made available for Members and their officers. CPwD identified that physical accessibility, stigma and attitudinal barriers must be addressed to achieve full inclusion. United and supported, CPwD seek to develop strategies to overcome barriers that compromise the ability of persons with disabilities from seeking elected office. The Parliament of Manitoba in Canada, for example, has undergone significant structural modifications including lifts, ramps, automatic doors, stair lighting, improved speaker systems, and has raised the floor of the Parliament to accommodate persons with diverse disabilities as visitors and members. If you make a building accessible for the person who needs the most accommodations, you make it friendly for most. I am currently in the process of working with our parliamentary staff to undertake the necessary changes to make the New South Wales Parliament in Sydney inclusive and accessible to
accommodate my needs. It has been an ongoing, disruptive process that I believe should have been in place before my election to Parliament. I continue to emphasise that government, as the leaders in New South Wales society, should be modelling inclusive excellence, rather than disruptive, post-arrival modifications to accommodate the needs of a new politician who is also a wheelchair user. The good news is that as more people with disabilities sit on the other side of the desk, we will raise awareness and ensure that disability awareness is included within all levels of legislation, and legislate to eliminate all forms of discrimination. And as more PWD continue to occupy elected seats, more PWD see that the opportunity can also be for them. The challenge lies ahead. As PWD, we have to make sure we work to the best of our ability as we are not only representatives of our constituents, but also ambassadors for PWD, showing that we are fully able and capable of doing whatever we need to do. As a very newly elected member of the New South Wales Parliament, the CPA Conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet colleagues who have pushed through similar barriers in their lives and in their Parliaments as those I continue to face. It was wonderful to share ‘war stories’, and also enlightening to hear about the history and success of the network of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) from the Canadian CWP’s outgoing Chair, Hon. Linda Reid, MLA (British Columbia). It gives me great hope that necessary social change can be expedited when driven from the extraordinarily strong position within the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.